Day: March 16, 2023

The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission [EACC] has called on county governments to urgently put in place swift and radical reform measures on the imprest system to curb rampant corruption. The commission raised concern over abuse and misuse of the imprest system in counties to plunder public funds running into millions of shillings through fictitious claims by county officials. According to EACC Assistant Director of Corporate Affairs Eric Ngumbi, the commission has issued a circular to all County Governments requiring them to take urgent reform measures on how imprest is managed. Mr Ngumbi said the commission is undertaking active investigations in over 20 counties relating to embezzlement of public funds through fictitious claims, malpractices and manipulation of imprest system. He said the commission has flagged numerous malpractices used to embezzle funds including manual processing of imprest, approving unjustified imprest, use of forged documents and failing to follow due regulations and procedures. The official said corrupt county officials have exploited these loopholes to plunder public funds adding that the commission has flagged abuse of imprest as one of emerging threat to management of county finances. ‘Counties need to urgently seal loopholes in their imprest systems to improve their financial accountability and curb loss of public funds,’ said Ngumbi. The assistant director said the commission has issued a circular directing relevant county accounting officers to urgently institute proper systems and checks to streamline imprest management and surrender systems in accordance with Public Finance Management regulations. He said that County Secretaries and Clerks of Assemblies are expected to establish proper accountability mechanisms to ensure that no public official uses the imprest system to embezzle public funds. Speaking to the press in Naivasha, Ngumbi said the commission will recommend swift legal actions against county accounting officers for money lost due to manipulation of imprest that occurs in their offices. Ngumbi at same time said counties should take necessary administrative actions against public officials found to be misusing imprest as well as institute recovery of public funds lost. He said the commission has relied on reports by the Auditor General that have flagged increased cases of misuse of public funds in the counties running into millions of shillings every year.

Source: Kenya News Agency

Ethiopia rejected the irresponsible statement attributed to the Foreign Minister of Egypt, threatening Ethiopia with yet another ‘all options are open’ declaration with regard to the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement issued today that such a threat constitutes a flagrant breach of the United Nations Charter and Constitutive Act of the African Union.

This also stands as a clear violation of the Agreement on the Declaration of Principles on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) signed on 23 March 2015 between Ethiopia, Egypt and Sudan.

Egypt must cease its callous and unlawful pronouncements, it added.

The ministry called upon all concerned actors to take note of Egypt’s flagrant violation of principles of international relations, and underscored that no interest can be advanced through threats and intimidation.

If approached in good faith and with full respect for principles of international law, amicable solution between the three countries is within reach in the negotiations under the auspices of the African Union, the statement noted.

“Yet again, Ethiopia reiterates its calls on the parties to re-engage the African Union platform and reach a negotiated solution on the GERD. On its part, Ethiopia remains committed to a win-win settlement of this matter.”

Source: Ethiopian News Agency

Leaders in Kitui County has expressed concern over the prevailing drought in the county and called for urgent food aid and supply of water to increasing number of victims affected by the drought. The leaders, while speaking on Thursday during a County Drought Committee (CDC) meeting held in Mwingi town, lamented that the drought situation is threatening lives and livelihoods and had already slowed down the economic growth, therefore resulting to high poverty levels among residents. The CDC meeting which was convened by the National Drought Management Authority (NDMA), and co-chaired by the County Commissioner Erastus Mbui and Deputy Governor Augustine Kanani on behalf of the Governor Dr. Julius Malombe, regretted that reports on effects of the drought at the county were shocking and noted that there was need for urgent intervention to avert possible loss of lives. Scores of the committee members drawn from different local actors presented their respective reports on the alarming effects of drought and climate change in the county. In a statement delivered by his deputy, Malombe lamented that the drought has prevailed for a long time across the country and its effects are increasing in intensity and scale. ‘Currently we are experiencing one of the worst drought episodes in the country, which has triggered death of cattle and wildlife. In Kitui County, for instance, we have had drought in every three to four years and an extreme one in every five to six years,’ reads part of the Governor’s statement. ‘Kitui County is characterized by a rapidly growing population, water scarcity, falling food production and low resilience to climate change. The combined effects of climate change and rapid population growth are increasing food insecurity, environmental degradation and poverty levels in the county,’ added the Governor. ‘Access to clean water is very low, as the commodity in almost surface sources does not last for an entire season thus forcing the residents to trek long distances in search of clean water for their daily use. Often, people and livestock share the few available water sources, leading to contamination and high chances and cases of water-borne diseases,’ the Governor pointed out. The County Chief regretted that climate change had exacerbated effects of drought to the communities, further eroding the gains in development by the government and development partners. ‘Kitui County is known to receive little and unreliable amounts of rainfall and as a result many rivers have dried up, including dams and boreholes leaving the residents suffering. Inadequate food production, sicknesses and dirty environments have resulted due to this plague called drought,’ observed Malombe. Malombe said there is need for more coordinated mechanisms to address the drought effects at the county, national and global levels. ‘Drought being a slow onset disaster can be mitigated with timely measures, albeit with concerted efforts by all stakeholders in terms of sensitization, investment, monitoring and response whenever necessary,’ he added. Others present at the function included the County NDMA Coordinator Francis Koma, County Executive Committee Member (CECMS) among them Dr. Stephen Kimwele Mbaya (Agriculture and Livestock), Ruth Koki (Health and sanitation) and Phoebe Ndungu Mutemi (Culture, Gender, Youth, ICT, Sports and Social Services), Education Director Madam Rosaline Njiru and Representatives of NGOs, Civil society groups and the Clergy.

Source:Kenya News Agency

The Government of Ethiopia is very supportive with development partners in providing health services to those in need, in addition to strengthening the humanitarian aid, the WHO Shire Sub Office (in Tigray Region) Coordinator Boniface Ambani told ENA.

“I should say the government is very, very supportive, because it is through the government that we have been able to get the donation because there’s been high level advocacy by the government and also by the humanitarian agencies.”

He further stated that the signing agreement is contributing a lot in boosting support to people in need.

“We have already started even before. But, of course, this is a very big boost. I believe that after the signing of the peace agreement and the support that is coming in we are able to access as many health facilities as possible; and we are able to support the health delivery of health care services. We are also able to distribute all supplies to all the health facilities that are required to provide services,” Ambani said.

According to him, the organization is partnering with all its development partners to ensure that we get adequate supply.

He reaffirmed that with support from donors and development partners, WHO will continue to collaborate with the government in providing essential health care services for people in need of these services.

The coordinator reaffirmed that WHO, with support from donors and development partners, will continue to collaborate with the government in providing essential health care services for people in need of these services.

WHO has reportedly extended 70 metric tons of emergency medicine and other medical supplies targeted to reach about 1.2 million people to the Northern Ethiopia Emergency Response over the past two weeks.

Source: Ethiopian News Agency

Information, Communication and The Digital Economy Cabinet Secretary Mr. Eliud Owalo has condemned disruption of a Communication Authority (CA) function presided over by the CA Director General Mr. Ezra Chiloba. His sentiments came hours after supporters of Azimio la Umoja One Kenya staged protests along Kisumu streets and stormed into the event organized by the Authority on Wednesday. However, Owalo who was to be the chief guest at the World Consumer Rights Day 2023 did not attend the function. Reacting to the chaos that forced the meeting to close prematurely after guests and CA officers were whisked out of the venue, Owalo termed the incident as an act of cowardice and regrettable. ‘It is regrettable that a group of youth, ostensibly doing a demo in Kisumu, this morning disrupted an official function of the Communication Authority presided over by the CA Director General, Mr. Ezra Chiloba,’ he stated. The demonstrators allegedly stormed the event seeking an audience with the minister whom they accuse of countering Azimio leader Raila Odinga in the Luo Nyanza region politics. Upon realizing that Owalo was missing at the venue, they accessed the event’s main dais destroying and looting the valuables of various service providers before heading to the dining area where they consumed food that was preserved for the guests. ‘Eye-witness accounts indicate that the bandits destroyed CA property at the venue and took off with items whose value is still unknown,’ Owalo stated. The aggressors also pelted Mr. Chiloba’s official vehicle in an attempt to vandalize it. However, Chiloba, other CA officials and guests escaped unhurt. ‘This is lowly banditry and hooliganism. It is hugely regrettable. There is no place for such base conduct in social order,’ Owalo rebuked. Consequently, CA in a statement issued to the newsroom castigated the incident stressing its commitment to protecting the rights of mobile telephony, internet, broadcasting and courier services consumers that fall under their mandate. ‘It is unfortunate that this year’s World Consumer Rights Day event convened by the Communications Authority of Kenya and held at the Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Sports Complex in Kisumu was disrupted following protests in and around the CBD,’ reads a statement in part. Patricia Muchiri, a CA official confirmed that the event kicked off with a round-table discussion in the morning session after the official opening ceremony by the Director General. Present at the meeting were Kisumu Deputy Governor Dr. Mathew Owili representing Governor Anyang’ Nyong’o, Safaricom PLC’s Chief Corporate Affairs Officer, Stephen Kiptinness, Airtel Kenya’s Customer Experience Director, Goldermier Opiyo, and Wananchi Group (Kenya) Limited’s Customer Experience Director, Jane Kebenei among others. Later, Chiloba attended the high-level African Advanced Level Telecommunications Institute (AFRALTI) Governing Council meeting that was also taking place in the same County.

Source: Kenya News Agency

In spite of economic growth recovery, Africa still needs to curb poverty and social inequality, according to UN Economic Commission for Africa.

Presenting an overview of recent Economic and Social Conditions in Africa at the ongoing 41st meeting of the Committee of Experts in Addis Ababa, Macroeconomic Policy Division Director at ECA, Adam Elhiraika stated “In Africa, growth dwindled from 4.6 per cent in 2021 to 3.6 per cent in 2022.”

With slower economic growth and high inflation, many African countries continue hardly to strengthen the continent’s development after experiencing a series of severe and mutually reinforcing shocks, a press release sent to ENA said.

He added that the COVID-19 pandemic, the Russia-Ukrainian war and the resultant food and energy hurdles, rising inflation as well as debt tightening, and natural disasters brought some serious developmental challenges on the continent such as poverty and inequality rates and lack of decent jobs.

According to ECA, in 2022 an additional 18 million new poor emerged in Africa. The continent had more than half of the highest proportion of the world’s poor at 54.8 per cent.

This is alarming because 546 million people in Africa, which is more than half of the continent’s population, were living in poverty last year, it was indicated.

It was noted that women and girls remain particularly vulnerable and the continent is facing a potential reversal of the hard-won gains made on gender equity.

Moreover, inequality which remains pervasive across all African sub-regions, particularly high in Southern Africa is another challenge.

ECA estimates that Africa is anticipated to grow by 4.1 percent in 2023; however, it might face headwinds, especially with an unfavorable external environment created by the recession in both the United States and the Eurozone and which are expected to weigh on commodity prices.

“Fostering recovery and transformation in Africa to reduce inequalities and vulnerabilities” is the theme of the ongoing meeting in Addis Ababa where countries were urged to pursue pro-poor and inclusive macroeconomic policies and ensure access to finance for an inclusive recovery.

Source: Ethiopian News Agency

Nakuru County Government has put into action a plan to revise nutritional programmes and policies to bolster the health and wellbeing of the population through implementation of Sh 2.55 billion County Nutrition Action Plan (CNAP). Chief Officer in charge of Public Health Alice Abuki said CNAP which was developed with financial and technical support from Nutrition International, county administration and nutrition stakeholders was guiding the devolved unit in scaling-up of nutrition interventions over the next five years. Ms Abuki said the County government had introduced nutritional community-based management, supplementation feeding programmes for pregnant women and capacity building of healthcare workers to offer nutrition services in all health facilities. While acknowledging that malnutrition had both health and economic consequences and undermines basic human rights, the chief officer said they were targeting to reduce malnutrition by 60 percent and 58 percent in children under five and expectant women respectively in the next five years as outlined in the County 2020-2025 CNAP. Other interventions by the county towards addressing malnutrition are provision of affordable healthcare services and medical and nutrition commodities and supplies to hospitals, added Ms Abuka. ‘Iimproved nutrition is expected to contribute to economic productivity and development and reduce poverty’, said the Chief Officer. The chief officer revealed that the county government was also supporting various programs aimed at ensuring that the target population was nutritionally safe and that there was enough of nutrition-rich food, which was affordable and accessible to the low-income consumers and that there was productivity and respect for biodiversity and ecosystems. Speaking during a meeting between members of the Nutrition Programme Steering Committee and officials of Nutrition International (NI) at the County headquarters, the Chief Officer stated that to ensure sustainability in the interventions, plans were underway to strengthen the County’s partnerships with Nutrition International beyond the stated financing period. According to the official, while people have been emphasising more on the need to eat a well-balanced diet, they have ignored important dietary aspects like minerals and trace elements which include traces like zinc, magnesium, calcium and potassium among others. ‘Good nutrition is vital for all people especially vulnerable groups including children, lactating mothers, the aged and the sick. There is need to look at food from not only an aspect of food security, but also nutritional security,’ observed Abuka. Most people, she added, depend on certain types of food because of culture and availability, while they fail to consider the nutritional value of what they consume. While noting that climate change, poverty and lack of innovation were some of the top challenges to food and nutritional security, Ms Abuka urged stakeholders to work with research organisations and academic institutions to address food insecurity and malnutrition adding that earlier research had revealed a direct link between nutrients-deprived soils and malnutrition. The CNAP programme has incorporated the priorities of the Nakuru County Integrated Development Plan 2018-2022 and the County Health Sector Strategic and Investment Plan 2018-2022. It lays out actions for resource mobilization, and coordination and implementation of nutrition interventions with health and other key sectors. The plan has clearly defined targets and includes monitoring and accountability frameworks. Nutrition International supported the development of the CNAP through its Nutrition Technical Assistance Mechanism’s Technical Assistance for Nutrition project, funded with UK aid from the United Kingdom government. Other partners who offered technical support include the Ministry of Health’s Nutrition and Dietetics Unit, United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Afya Uzazi and Egerton University. The Nutrition International Kenya Country Director Martha Nyagaya regretted that one out of every three people in the world is malnourished with adolescent girls and women being the most vulnerable due to biological and sociological aspects. The solution to under nutrition, the Director said, lies at low-cost intervention mechanisms which needed to be scaled up by actively involving individuals, families and the communities. Nutrition International, she said, had been working in Sub Saharan Africa in the past 25 years fighting malnutrition. In Kenya, it is working in 16 counties in reducing the cases including Nandi, Makueni, Vihiga and Busia. According to statistics from the devolved unit’s Department of Health, of the 275,921 children under five living in the county, an estimated 27.9 percent are stunted way above the national level of 26%, a further 5 percent are wasted while 10.2% are underweight. According to the Kenya Demographic Health Survey (2014), 75,439 children in Nakuru County were stunted while malnutrition causes an estimated 17,033 cases of low birth weight and underweight annually within the devolved unit. The interventions outlined in CNAP are projected to result in 1,473 child deaths averted, 22,453 cases of anaemia prevented in pregnant women and 4,666 cases of anaemia avoided in adolescent girls. Over the period, prevalence of stunting is expected to come down by approximately 38 percent while cases of iron deficiency anaemia in pregnant women to drop by 58 percent. Official records from County Department of health indicate that malnutrition costs the health system an estimated Sh175.6 million per year, and that the menace had reduced education performance of learners with Nakuru recording an average annual 333 cases of class repetitions and drop outs due to stunting. Absenteeism occasioned by stunting in the devolved unit according to the records was costing the education sector and affected families Shs 4.07 million annually.

Source: Kenya News Agency